Schouten Islands

The Schouten Islands (also Misore Islands or Biak ( Kepulauan Schouten ) called ) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, located on the northern edge of the Cenderawasih Bay off the north coast of New Guinea. The group is now politically with the Indonesian province of Papua; to 1970 included the islands to the Dutch colony of West New Guinea.

Geography

The island group includes the islands of Biak, Korridu, Numfor, and numerous smaller islands Supiori. The larger islands Korridu and Biak together have a land area of ​​2456 km ². Capital of the Schouten Islands, Kota Biak on the south coast of the main island of the same name.

History

Probably already the Spaniard Alvaro de Saavedra has discovered the Schouten Islands, but is only secured the discovery in 1616 by the Dutch navigator Jacob Le Maire and Willem Cornelisz Schouten after it is named.

Due to a misunderstanding of the French cartographer Louis Isidore Duperrey another, about 800 km southeast, the island group was also given the name " Schouten " off the east coast of Papua New Guinea in 1823; latter island group, however, was later renamed Le Maire Islands.

On the island of Biak scheduled Russia 2008, together with Indonesia to build a space station for satellite launches air by means of a transport aircraft Antonov An-124 Ruslan ( NATO reporting name: ' Condor ' ).